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Jindal's full remarks

“If any rational human being were to create our government anew, today, from a blank piece of paper — we would have about one-fourth of the buildings we have in Washington and about half of the government workers,” he said, according to a copy of the speech obtained in advance by POLITICO. “We would replace most of its bureaucracy with a handful of good websites.”

Jindal, an all-but-declared 2016 candidate for president, prodded leaders to help “recalibrate the compass of conservatism.”

“We are a populist party and need to make that clear,” he told a few hundred party leaders.

His dinnertime speech articulated a version of Ronald Reagan’s “New Federalism” on steroids.

“Washington has spent a generation trying to bribe our citizens and extort our states,” Jindal said. “As Republicans, it’s time to quit arguing around the edges of that corrupt system.”

“We must quit ‘big,’” he said. “We are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes or big anything. We must not be the party that simply protects the well-off so they can keep their toys … We are the party whose ideas will help the middle class, and help more folks join the middle class.”

He called repeatedly for a reorienting of the party’s focus from the Beltway to state capitols.

“We believe in planting the seeds of growth in the fertile soil of your economy, where you live, where you work, invest and dream, not in the barren concrete of Washington,” he said. “If it’s worth doing, block grant it to the states. If it’s something you don’t trust the states to do, then maybe Washington shouldn’t do it at all. We believe solving problems closer to home should always be our first, not last, option.”

Jindal worries that the GOP is becoming a party obsessed with austerity more than growth and focused too much on trying to “manage” government better than Democrats. He called the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling and Joe Biden’s gun control task force “sideshow traps” that distract from bigger issues.

“We think if we can just unite behind a proposal to cut the deficit and debt, if we can just put together a spreadsheet and a PowerPoint and a TV ad, all will be well,” he said. “It’s a terrible debate. It’s a debate fought entirely on our opponents’ terms.

“If our vision is not bigger than that, we do not deserve to win,” he added.

The speech ended with a call for Republicans to make seven changes, including: Stop looking backward, compete for every single vote (“the 47 percent and the 53 percent”), reject identity politics, stop being “the stupid party” and “stop insulting the intelligence of voters.”

“If this election taught us anything, it is that we will not win elections by simply pointing out the failures of the other side,” he said. “We must boldly paint the picture of what America can be, of just how incredibly bright America’s future can be.”